Loan Update: Arena named to USL PRO Team of the Week as Dynamo trio help Pittsburgh to draw at Orlando City

Houston Dynamo defender Anthony Arena was named to the USL PRO Team of the Week on Tuesday for week two of the 2014 season. Arena, in his debut for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds after joining the Dynamo’s USL PRO affiliate on loan last week, played 90 minutes in Saturday's 1-1 road draw against the defending USL PRO champions, Orlando City.

Arena, Jason Johnson and Bryan Salazar comprised the Dynamo trio that joined Pittsburgh for the start of the 2014 season. Johnson also started the match and played 90 minutes in his Pittsburgh debut. Salazar entered as a second-half substitute and helped preserve a draw against Orlando City, which will join Major League Soccer for the 2015 season.

Pittsburgh returns to the road this weekend with a road game at Richmond Kickers on Saturday. The ‘Hounds open the home schedule on April 12 against the Wilmington Hammerheads.

The Dynamo and Riverhounds formed an affiliate partnership for the 2014 season last November. Pittsburgh spent a portion of its preseason training at Houston Sports Park and played the Dynamo in a preseason scrimmage on Feb. 19.

USL PRO is the third tier in the U.S. Soccer pyramid. The league features 14 clubs for the 2014 season, including expansion teams in Oklahoma City and Sacramento. Four of the last five clubs to enter MLS have moved up from the USL’s top professional division. The Vancouver Whitecaps, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Montreal Impact all operated franchises in the USL’s top professional division before making the transition to MLS.